Life As a Private Cook

Career Description Prepare meals in private homes. Includes personal chefs.

Life As a Private Cook

• Plan and prepare food for parties, holiday meals, luncheons, special functions, and other social events.
• Serve meals and snacks to employing families and their guests.
• Shop for or order food and kitchen supplies and equipment.
• Peel, wash, trim, and cook vegetables and meats, and bake breads and pastries.
• Stock, organize, and clean kitchens and cooking utensils.
• Specialize in preparing fancy dishes or food for special diets.

Private Cook Skills

When polled, Private Cooks say the following skills are most frequently used in their jobs:

Service Orientation: Actively looking for ways to help people.

Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Management of Material Resources: Obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work.

Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Active Learning: Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.

Related Job Titles for this Occupation:

• Holiday Food Prepper
• Household Cook
• Cooking Chef
• Cook
• Culinary Worker

Are There Job Opportunities for Private Cooks?

There were about 25,000 jobs for Private Cook in 2016 (in the United States). New jobs are being produced at a rate of 5.2% which is below the national average. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts 1,300 new jobs for Private Cook by 2026. Due to new job openings and attrition, there will be an average of 3,700 job openings in this field each year.

The states with the most job growth for Private Cook are Nevada, Oregon, and Florida. Watch out if you plan on working in Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, or North Dakota. These states have the worst job growth for this type of profession.

Do Private Cooks Make A Lot Of Money?

The salary for Private Cooks ranges between about $25,610 and $62,600 a year.

Private Cooks who work in California, make the highest salaries.

How much do Private Cooks make in different U.S. states?

State	Annual Mean Salary
California	$40,080

What Tools & Technology do Private Cooks Use?

Although they’re not necessarily needed for all jobs, the following technologies are used by many Private Cooks:

• Web browser software
• Email software
• Intuit QuickBooks
• YouTube
• WordPress
• Work scheduling software

How to Become a Private Cook

What education is needed to be a Private Cook?

How Long Does it Take to Become a Private Cook?

Who Employs Private Cooks?

Below are examples of industries where Private Cooks work:

References:

• Bureau of Labor Statistics
• College Factual
• O*NET Online

Image Credit: U.S. Army Europe Images via Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic

More about our data sources and methodologies.